Cadence (princesscadence) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2012-12-29 22:26:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, kurt wagner (nightcrawler), princess cadance |
I don’t often let strange men I’ve just met in coffee shops taste me.
Who: Cadence and Kurt
Where: coffee shop
When: Christmas eve eve
What: random encounter
Rating: Low, though there is talk of heaving seas.
Status: Complete!
Today was her day off. Cadence doesn't have many of them, so when they came along she took advantage. She rushed into the coffee shop and shook the rain out of her hair, and gave a sigh. at least rain was better than snow.
She was dressed for the snow, with long jeans, a sweater and her jacket. She still felt a little sticky from the rain, though.
She got in line for a coffee, humming along to the Christmas music playing in the cafe.
Kurt's hair dangled in his face as he walked into the coffee shop. He was in a sour mood. The warehouse this time of year was hell, but it was better than being unemployed. He didn't know what he wanted to do long term yet. Whatever was calling to him he hadn't found.
He pushed his hair back, then rubbed at his goatee as he tried to figure out what to order.
It was cold and wet outside, but inside it was plenty warm. While looking up at the menu, Cadence pulled her jacket down off of her shoulders and tugged it from her arms. In the process, though, she accidentally bumped get arm into the guy standing behind her. "Oh, I'm so sorry, " she said, then brought her eyes to his face. Wow. What a face.
"It's all right, I vasn't paying attention." Kurt smiled at the beautiful Latina. His mood was sour but that was no excuse to be rude to a stranger.
“German?” Cadence guessed, giving the incredibly handsome stranger a smile. If he wasn’t, she’d be a bit embarrassed. But really, all she knew about foreign countries could probably fit into a couple of long books. She wasn’t great at sussing out one accent from another.
A smile erupted onto his face, and Kurt replied, "Ja! I never really lost the accent. How did you guess?" He wiped his hand on his pants, just in case, and held it out to the pretty young lady. "I'm being rude. Kurt Vagner."
Cadence did the same, as she was still soaking from running into the shop from her car. Though, her pants were damp, too. She hoped she didn’t have too wet of a hand as she reached forward to shake his. “Hello, Kurt. I’m Cadence.” She was grinning brightly. He was really good looking. “Just... what I’ve seen on television,” she added, sheepishly, in response to his question about how she could guess. “It’s a nice accent, anyway.”
"Danke. They tend to exaggerate it," Badabum. Kurt held her hand a little longer than strictly necessary, before he let go with a sheepish smile. "Cadence is a beautiful name. I think it suits you. Vould you mind if I paid for your coffee?"
His hand was surprisingly warm, despite the chilly weather outside. Cadence found herself blushing just slightly, wondering if an overly friendly nature was true of all Germans, or just this one. She didn’t have a lot of experience with people who had such strong accents. “Thank you.” Her mother had given it to her on her death bed. She was sentimental about her name. “Oh, you don’t need to do that,” she added, but she was smiling shyly. The answer to his question was ‘not at all, please do.’
"Allow me to, liebchen. I could use a bit of warmth and cheer this afternoon." He flashed her a warm smile then gestured towards the counter. "You're up."
"Oh, um, Gingerbread latte, please. " Cadence said to the varietal at the register. "Nonfat, no whip." She shrugged her purse from her shoulder and pulled out a dollar for the tip jar while he ordered and paid.
"I gotta admit I could use some company today, too. The rain always makes me feel a bit blue. " She said, giving him a smile.
Nodding, Kurt ordered that latte, along with a hot peppermint coffee for himself, with whipped cream. He handed over some cash and took his change, stuffing it into a pocket he usually reserved for charity. The man smiled, careful to hand her her drink with his right hand and not his left. “I know I shouldn’t, but it’s just not peppermint coffee vithout the whipped cream. And sometimes, you need to splurge a little bit, vhen your mind is heavy.”
Cadence gave a little laugh. “That’s true. But a girl has to watch her figure, you know.” She was a born and raised Californian, so there was no Spanish accent in her voice, but it was obvious that she was an intelligent girl with worldly experience. At least, worldly in the North American continent sort of way.
She accepted the coffee with a gentle ‘thank you’ and then turned to lead the way to the closest table. “So, how long have you been in America?” She asked, slipping into the chair and setting her coffee down. She folded one leg over the other and got comfortable.
"You have a vonderful figure to vatch, so I don't blame you." Kurt laughed. It was a good belly laugh, and one that he was unaccustomed to of late. "I've been here about a month. I did some fishing and needed to do something new. I just need to find vhatever that is. For the time being, I make ends meet."
Cadence blushed. She wasn't really used to guys being so forward when it came to compliments. Well, except feat boys sometimes after to much Dragon punch. "Thank you," she said, because her mother taught her to always Thank someone for a compliment. "That sounds... sounds a little stressful, to be honest, " she said with a smile. "I find a lot of solace in knowing where I am and where I'm going. "
"I knew vhere I was, and I thought I knew vhere I vas going," he replied, his smile a little sad. Ever since the whole thing with Amanda and her death, he'd been drifting through life with no plan. "That is no matter. Vhat is it you do, if you don't mind my asking?"
“I’m a student currently. I work part-time with children, I’ve always worked with kids. I love it.” She responded, though she noticed how sad his smile was. She wished she could ask about it, but that wasn’t exactly the right topic of conversation for a first time coffee date. Gathering. Whatever this was. “I’m hoping to teach preschool. Probably Montessori, if I can find an opening somewhere.”
"Vonderful! Vhat's your favorite part of vorking vith children?" He leaned forward, clearly interested in what she had to say. His hair framed his face, shadowing his eyes.
Damn. He was hot. Cadence wasn’t sure why such a tall, dark and handsome (okay, maybe just dark and handsome) stranger was interested in her. But she wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. She shrugged one shoulder, then responded humbly, “I’ve got a lot of experience working with them. I love how I can be both a friend and a mentor, an authority figure, but someone who can be trusted completely and depended on. Almost... almost like a priest. Though, of course, with a lot of differences.”
She was very pretty, and a sort of pretty that he hadn't seen in a very long time. Kurt was a little intrigued. Perhaps a lot intrigued. Perhaps more intrigued than he ought to be, considering. He was a dockworker, and lived in a tiny little hotel room. He almost grimaced when she said the word 'priest' and couldn't quite hide it in time.
"Ja. A lot of differences, but I think you better than most, where it counts."
She’d noticed the very slight flinch at the word ‘priest,’ but it wasn’t unexpected. Cadence was used to people not being as big on religion--especially her religion--as she was. That was okay. To each his own. It wasn’t as if she was out to “save” the whole world. She wasn’t about to push it, especially because of the compliments that just kept on coming.
“Really?” She asked, grinning. “You’ve just met me, and already you think I’m better than a priest?”
“I’ve known quite a few priests in my day, leibchen. Few are as selfless as they like others to think.” His smile was kind, but there was an undercurrent of sadness. Not anger really. Maybe a little bitterness. “I was on the way to becoming one, myself.”
The grin on Cadence’s face fell just slightly. She gave a solemn nod, wondering what it was that hurt him. “I’m sorry,” she said, softly. She’d had the good fortune to have met a lot of good priests, and very few bad ones. Though, she knew they were out there.
“There was a time when I thought about ordination as a vocation. But I don’t think it’s for me.” She added, smiling softly. In her denomination there were many female priests. Priests with families weren’t at all uncommon.
“If you have the faith, you don’t always need the ordination,” Kurt replied. He felt this incredible urge to brush hair off of her cheek. “A just god wouldn’t care.”
"Ordination isn't only about God for me, though. When I meet God, it won't matter whether or not I'm wearing a collar. Ordination would be for the people down here, to help those around me, especially in their time of need." She felt like she might be getting preachy, so she decided to back off the subject. "Anyway, I've decided to work with children instead." She gave him a smile. "There are a lot less politics when dealing with three year olds."
Kurt was pretty sure that wasn’t necessary either, but he wasn’t going to say anything about that. He was never a person to throw his belief (or lack thereof) into another person’s face, and he wasn’t going to start now. “Children need someone like you. I think it’s a vonderful thing that you do, Cadence.”
Necessary? No. Helpful? Sometimes. They could talk more on it later, if it ever came up again. That was a deep conversation for two people who just met to have over coffee. Cadence blushed a little and brought a hand up to fiddle with her necklace. Nervous habit. “Thank you. I try. I’m only working part-time with the kids in the day care on campus right now. Hopefully during the summer vacation I can work full time and really log some hours. Those kids are absolutely wonderful.”
"Gut, it's terrible vhen the kids act terrible, but I am sure you've got some stories to tell." He grinned at her, one without sadness. It was a bit of a charming, dashing sort of grin. "Old war stories, ja?"
“Oh, yes, I’m full of those.” Cadence said, returning his grin with one of her own. A bright one, her tan skin only heightening the bright, white-ness of her teeth. She lifted her cup for a sip, then lowered it again. “A little girl, just before the semester ended, told me that she was going to marry me when she grew up. It was the sweetest thing I’d ever heard.”
"That's adorable," He replied, his grin widening. He could picture this little girl, all earnest and sweet, and it brought laughter to his eyes.
“I had to tell her that by the time she’s old enough to marry me, I’d be old and wrinkled, and she’d be much better off with a girl her own age.” She said, laughter in her eyes, too. “Then she told me she was going to marry Dora the Explorer, instead. I figure that’s a closer age gap.”
"Oh yes. I think she might have a bit of a thing for your skin." Kurt winked at her, feeling more merry than he had in a long time. She was good company, he had to admit that. It was worth the cost of coffee.
“Maybe.” Cadence said, grinning softly. “She likes the mocha girls.” She said, then gave a little laugh. One of the guys in her ex-boyfriend’s frat used to call her that. A “Mocha Betty” were his words.
"Mocha girls? And do you taste like coffee, Cadance?" Kurt could be a horrific flirt, and she'd left the door wide open.
Cadence looked at him for a moment, her expression falling from a gentle grin to a more shocked expression. Then she laughed. “I dunno. It’s a bit difficult to taste myself.”
"Lift your hand up and lick it," Kurt suggested, leaning forward. "Or perhaps you could offer me a taste."
“I don’t often let strange men I’ve just met in coffee shops taste me,” Cadence said, flirting back with him. She raised a playful eyebrow, grinning now. Her heart was thundering. “I might make an exception today, though. A girl simply melts under that accent of yours.”
"A man vould be a fool to turn down such an offer," Kurt bowed his head, sweeping his arm out in a flourish. "And I am no fool."
Cadence broke into a grin at the flourish, then leaned in a little. She lifted her hand up between them and offered it for him to take. She meant, of course, for him to taste her hand as he’d instructed her to do.
He took her hand like a gentleman, and lifted it to his lips, kissing her as he would a lady. His tongue flicked out at the last second, teasingly.
She gave a laugh at the flicker of his tongue. "Well? Do I taste like coffee?"
Kurt's eyes flashed. "Mm...that you do. Rich and velvety, with a hint of hazelnut."
Cadence grinned. "Check me out, I'm Nutella."
Kurt laughed, his thumb stroking across her knuckles. "You're a lot better than Nutella."
"Are you this flirtatious with all the girls who bump into you in coffee shops?" Cadence asked, playfully, though she didn't pull her hand out of his. "Literally? It's not every day I actually bump into people when I say I do."
"Vell, this vould be the first time I've bumped into a pretty lady in a coffee shop this veek," he joked. When he grinned, it was almost devilish.
She couldn’t help but love that grin. Already. It made her want to give him her number. Was that too forward? “All right, were you this flirtatious with all the girls you bumped into in coffee shops last week?”
He liked her smile. There weren't enough smiles in the world, and he knew he contributed to that a lot of the time. Still, it was hard for him to not want to smile right now. "Nein. Except for this cute little poodle that vas vaiting outside."
Cadence laughed again. “Poodle? Well, I hope that she flirted back.” She said, finally withdrawing her hand to reach into her pocket for her phone.
"She was a terrible flirt." He rested his hand on the table, then picked up his drink to give it something to do. He must be going crazy, that was it.
“The bitch.” Cadence smirked, lifting her cup to sip from it. She set her phone down on the table. It took her a minute to work up the courage to slide it toward him. “If you put your number in here, I might text you sometime.” She was blushing a bit behind her coffee cup.
Kurt chuckled. "I'm not sure my phone even has that capability, but it's vorth a shot, ja?" He tapped his number into the phone. "There, danke. You have my digits."
Cadence accepted the phone back. “...what century are you from that you don’t text?” She asked, playfully.
“I have an ancient flip phone that’s duct taped together. It was a miracle I got it to vork vith American cell carriers.” He laughed. “Something better vill have to vait until I’ve gotten more stable vork, I think.”
Cadence raised an eyebrow. “Duct tape? Really? That’s...” She shook her head a little. It was kinda hot, actually. A guy who wasn’t all that into technology? Made her wonder what he did with his time if not wasting it with a computer. “...well, I’ll have to call you, then, instead of text.”
"I vould like that." He did need to get a hands free set. He didn't drive, but he liked to have his hands free. "I find I've no need for fancy things, and in the life I've led there vas little room for vorldly possessions. I do have some things I've picked up. And quite the dvd collection of old svashbuckling movies."
“Swashbuckling movies?” Cadence asked, curiously. “Errol Flynn?” She asked. Cadence didn’t have much interest in those sorts of movies... or, well, she hadn’t seen many of them, but she knew of them from a film class that she took freshman year to fulfill an art credit for her General Education.
"Yes! Him especially! I love a good sword fight. I'm fairly accomplished myself, if I vere one to brag." Kurt picked up a straw and swished it playfully. "It's vhat attracted me to the sea originally, after I left the seminary."
What a strange change in profession. From Seminary to Swashbuckling? Bizarre. But intriguing. Cadence gave a little nod. “I gotta admit, one of my favorite movies in the world is The Princess Bride.” She confessed, smiling. “Do you ride horses, too?”
Too bad he'd never made it to the swashbuckling. Kurt nodded his head. "That is a good one, ja. It's a fun movie, and romantic at the same time. It's hard to find the right combination of the two." His ears tinged red, "Not in a long time."
“I used to go to camp every summer, and riding the horses was my favorite part.” Cadence said, smiling warmly. “I used to imagine that I was a knight or a cowboy or something.” Only, the girl versions. Obviously. “I might have to go home and watch that movie today.” She added, then sipped from her cup. She loved the sword fighting and the sailing and the horses... only, the princess was such a wet blanket.
"Ah, a Lady Knight. Precious few of those. I could see you in armor, atop a vhite steed, your hair streaming behind you in the vind!"
Cadence gave a little laugh. “Exactly. With a look of pure determination on my face, galloping off to save... someone. The damsel in distress, perhaps?”
"I've read these vonderful books by a man named Varric Tethras, who vould probably vrite that sort of story." Kurt laughed. Captain Sally's adventures were full of svashbuckling, and lots of naughtier things.
“Oh yeah?” Cadence asked, grinning. “That sounds so cool! I’d probably like that. I feel like I haven’t had any time for pleasure reading in years. School takes up so much of my time.” She lamented.
"I'll let you borrow some of my books, but I must varn you, many of them have some explicit content. Not all, of course. The pirate ones have a lot more than the steampunk ones." He might have a small collection of all of the above.
Cadence raised an eyebrow. “Explicit content? You mean romance novels?” She asked, grinning playfully.
"Ja. One set of novels involves a vomanizing lady pirate. The steampunk novels have more varied romances, though. There are only so many vays to describe a woman in ship terminology." Kurt's eyes twinkled.
Her cheeks went rather pink as Cadence considered what he meant. She shook her head a little, thought the smirk was still on her features. “I’m not sure I want to know.”
"Fine sterns and heaving seas?" He waggled his eyebrows in an exaggerated fashion.
“I was thinking... well, naughtier things,” Cadence confessed. “But I think I could handle it if it’s all terrible puns and innuendo.”
"Then I have to varn you there's a lot of naughtier things too. But mostly puns and innuendo. Probably not much more than most romance novels, ja?" He thought her blush was cute. Maybe he could make her blush more....
“Yeah, probably not.” Though, Cadence hadn’t read many romance novels. Just one that went around the sorority house about a dozen times. It was amusing more than anything else. “Not that I have much experience with those, either.” She added, sheepishly.
"I just like the adventure," Kurt admitted, a little sheepishly. He was embarrassed that he'd admitted he'd liked those books, now. "Anything else is frosting on the cake.
“Sometimes I wish I could go on more adventures.” Cadence admitted, “though I do go on my fair share. None of them have swashbuckling or heaving seas,” she said, a gentle smirk crossing her features.
"Vould you like to, sometime? I can't promise you pirates, but I'm sure ve can find some heaving seas." Cheeky bastard.
Cadence smirked. "You'll have to do more than buy me a coffee to plunder my heaving seas, Mister Wagner." She teased. It wasn't a no, though. The idea of adventures with him was appealing, of course, but they would have to be a little more clear on what that meant.
He looked momentarily taken aback by her riposte, as though he hadn't been expecting the parry. Then he looked pleased. He liked the banter, and he really liked how she turned it around on him. He wondered how difficult it would be to nagivate her straits.
"Dinner, sometime?"
Fairly difficult. But that didn’t mean he should give up trying. Cadence would love it if he did. Though, she would probably understand if he got frustrated in waiting for her. Her ex-boyfriend seemed to. She didn’t bother too long with that thought.
“I’d like that. Very much.”
"Ja! Let me know a good time, and I vill find a good time, and then ve vill have dinner! Ve could see any movie you vished to, as vell." That was dangerous. It could be something horrible!
“Dinner and a movie? It sounds like you’re asking me on a date, Mister Wagner.” Cadence teased him with a grin, though her face was blushing madly now.
"And if I vas, Miss Cadance?" He quirked an eyebrow.
“I suppose I’ll have to say yes.” She responded, giving him a nod.
“Gut.” Kurt nodded his head, sitting back. He had absolutely nothing to wear, but he’d make do, somehow. Maybe it really was time to get back on the market. Amanda would understand.
“Shall I call you with my schedule?” She asked, giving him a smile. Was she making this too easy for him? Should she be playing a little more hard to get?
"That vould be lovely. Ve can figure out vhat ve should vear and vhere ve should go." Cadance might haunt his dreams tonight. It wasn't an unpleasant prospect.
He was likely to be on her mind for a while, too. Cadence grinned as she lifted her coffee cup for a sip and found it was nearly empty. “Sounds good. I’ll call you.” She clicked her phone on, dialing his number. Even a duct-taped phone would be able to pick up her number on the first ring.
The theme to Captain Blood played, and Kurt grinned sheepishly. "My favorite movie. Ja." He grabbed her hand before it could escape him, then lifted it to his lips to kiss it again. "Until next time mein grazie."
Cadence gave a little laugh, shook her head, and smiled at him as he kissed her hand. “Hasta la Proxima, Senor Wagner.” She said, then stood from the table to make her way out of the shop.
Kurt watched her go, a sly smile on his lips. He didn't quite succeed in keeping his eyes off her skinny jeans. He was only mortal, after all. It was her hair that drew his attention, mostly. It shone in the winter sun.